Scottish Documentary Institute, Invisible Women and CinemaAttic are delighted to present a special season focusing on legendary Brazilian filmmaker Helena Solberg and her extensive work engaging with social, political issues in Latin America through a radical, feminist gaze.

The retrospective will offer a unique insight into the pioneering  feminist cinemas in/of Latin America through a handpicked selection of Solberg’s most influential documentaries screening at Glasgow Film Theatre (Sunday 16 April) and St Peter’s Church Hall in Edinburgh (Saturday 29 April). A special screening followed by an intimate conversation between award-winning filmmaker Mila Turajlić and Helena Solberg herself is scheduled to take place at Scottish Storytelling Centre on Wednesday 19  April.

SCREENINGS:

GLASGOW:
Where: GFT Glasgow (12 Rose St, Glasgow G3 6RB)
When: Sunday 16 April 2023 at 15:00

EDINBURGH:
Where: Scottish Storytelling Centre (43-45 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1SR)
When: Wednesday 19 April, doors open at 18:00, screening starts at 18:30
LIFE CONVERSATION BETWEEN MILA TURAJLIĆ AND HELENA SOLBERG

EDINBURGH:
Where: Scottish Storytelling Centre (43-45 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1SR)
When: Wednesday 19 April, screening starts at 20:00
HOME OF THE BRAVE (1986)

EDINBURGH:
Where: St Peter’s Episcopal Church Hall (14 Lutton Place, Edinburgh EH8 9PE)
When: Saturday 29 April, doors open at 19:30, screening starts at 20:00
INTRODUCTION BY INVISIBLE WOMEN

Helena Solberg

Born in São Paulo, Solberg began her career in the late 60s with two short films that would become  defining depictions of the era, before going on to produce a seminal body of work concerned with the  interconnected social, political, and representational issues facing women and the Latin American  diaspora. Her debut short, The Interview (1966), now considered the first Brazilian feminist film, and  second short fiction film Noon (1969) garnered Solberg international recognition, with invitations to film  festivals that kick-started her wider career. Since moving to the United States in 1970, she has  directed and produced many short and feature-length documentaries. Throughout the 1980s, she  directed films broadcast nationally on the PBS network, and has continued to make work between  the United States and Brazil up until the present day. Her work has won numerous prizes and been  selected for festivals internationally including in Melbourne, Rio, Nyon, Havana, Chicago, and New  York amongst many others.

Mila Turajlić

Mila Turajlic is a documentary filmmaker, visual artist and archive scholar born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.  Her films have screened at Toronto, Venice and Tribeca and her video installations were  commissioned by MoMA in New York. Her film The Other Side of Everything was HBO Europe’s first  co-production with Serbia and won the prestigious IDFA Award for Best Documentary Film in 2017. In  her work with archives, Mila Turajlić researches the intersection of personal and national memories,  always seeking to reactivate forgotten histories, through forms ranging from lecture performances and  video art to analytical essays. She teaches documentary film-making and creative archive use at  SciencesPo and INASup in Paris and has been a guest lecturer at universities (Sorbonne, Harvard,  Stanford).

FILMS

A Dupla Jornada:The Double Day (1975) – A look at women in Latin America and their efforts to achieve equality in the home and workplace.

Showing at GFT on Sunday 16 April.

Simplemente Jenny : Simply Jenny (1978) – About women in Latin America and the cultural values that shape their lives – image and reality – the models of society and the facts of poverty and violence.

Showing at GFT on Sunday 16 April.

A Entrevista : The Interview (1966) – A critique of the social values of upper middle class women in Rio de Janeiro.

Showing in Edinburgh on Saturday 29 April.

Carmen Miranda Bananas Is My Business (1995) – This documentary explores the life of Brazilian samba sensation Carmen Miranda. After gaining fame in Rio de Janeiro, Miranda was imported to Broadway in the late 1930s where she became the epitome of the exotic Latina.

Showing in Edinburgh on Saturday 29 April.

Presented by the Scottish Documentary Institute in collaboration with Invisible Women and Cinemaattic. Supported by Film Hub Scotland, Brazil Embassy UK, Consulado-Geral do Brasil em Edimburgo and Guimarães Rosa Institute.

English subtitles by Cinelimite and films restored by Iniciativa de Digitalização de Filmes Brasileiros.

With thanks to the National Archive of Brazil.